Ambience Day 8 – Beyond Tromsø : Arctic Night and the Northern Lights

“The aurora borealis… flamed in the sky, now in sheets, now in arcs, now in long rays.”

Roald Amundsen

 

Departure from Tromsø

 
Some days refuse to stay contained. Tromsø was one of them. What began as a simple port visit quickly unfolded into a day so full of light, history, movement, and meaning that it demanded more space than a single entry could hold.  This has never been the case for us before – and we have visited some amazing places over the years. 

Today, however, would turn out to be the longest day on board Ambience, spanning from 6:30 AM to 2:30 AM the next morning. And all of it was absolutely amazing!
 
Our first entry for Tromsø detailed our arrival and impressions as we explored the city.  The rest of our day and the evening beyond the port follow in their own time.
 

Evening on Ambience

 
After watching the slow sail away from the port of Tromsø, we headed down to our cabin to freshen up and either change for dinner or simply slip into bed.  After several full days and a number of long nights watching the northern lights, we were exhausted. 

 
However, as Sean was in the shower, I turned on the cabin TV to check the bridge cam and discovered that the sky was lit up with the telltale swirls of green in the sky!  Around us the skies were ablaze with northern lights.
 
Obviously, we were going to go back outside and take them in!  Little did we know then that when next we were back in our room it would be either very late or very early tomorrow morning - depending on your perspective. 

 
And so, as Ambience sailed away from Tromsø and continued threading her way north through the fjords of Norway, the sky above us danced with colour and light.
 

Tromsø - Gateway to the Arctic

 
Tromsø’s reputation as an Arctic capital and northern gateway mattered less in that moment than the simple fact that night had arrived, and we were out in it, standing still in the dark and watching the sky.
Tromsø is the largest city in Northern Norway and one of the most significant urban centres in the polar regions of Scandinavia. Long settled by both Norse and Sámi communities, those histories, as we saw today, remain deeply woven into the fabric of the city.

By the nineteenth century, Tromsø had grown into a vital Arctic trading hub and a launch point for expeditions into Svalbard, Greenland, and the polar ice - a role that earned it nicknames such as the “Gateway to the Arctic” and even the “Paris of the North,” reflecting both its strategic importance and its surprisingly rich cultural life at the edge of the world.

That Arctic heritage is inseparable from the great age of polar exploration. Tromsø served as a departure point for expeditions led by figures such as Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen, and its harbour was once filled with ships of scientists, hunters, and adventurers heading north. That spirit of inquiry endures today through the city’s polar museums, research institutes, and the presence of the world’s northernmost university, University of Tromsø, which continues to anchor Tromsø as a centre of Arctic science and learning.

Even the city’s landmarks echo that identity. The modern silhouette of the Arctic Cathedral and the long history of Mack Brewery, the world’s northernmost brewery, are reminders that life here has always adapted to latitude, darkness, and distance.

The Grandeur of the Northern Lights

 

“In the Arctic, light behaves differently. It lingers, it dances, it disappears 

and sometimes it returns transformed.”

 Robert Macfarlane

 
Out onto the jogging track at the top of the ship, the lights appeared brighter, more active, and remained for much longer than they did several nights ago when we watched them above the North Sea. 
 
Tonight they formed swirling spirals, shifting curtains, and double bands that seemed to twist and turn as they stretched from beyond one horizon to beyond the opposite one.  At other times, they formed long streaks that seemed to rain down towards the Earth. 

 
Unbelievably, as we looked up, a shooting star burned across the sky.  My mother said that when she saw the northern lights in British Columbia, Canada, it felt to her like she was watching the universe breathe and that in that moment, it was looking back at her.  Standing below the shifting, dancing, pulsing lights that appeared, increased in luminosity, and then quietly faded, I knew exactly what she meant. 

To be honest, there is no way to adequately capture in words or photographs the magnitude and beauty of the northern lights – they are definitely one of the gifts in this world that need to be experienced personally to understand.
 
Beyond the lights above us was the amazing experience of being on deck with hundreds of other people.  There was something amazing about so many people sharing in the same moment, all of whom were excited by the natural wonder above us. 
 

Deferred Dinner

 
Along with many other extremely excited passengers, we stayed up on deck for nearly 4 hours.  By the time the lights began to show signs of fading (or so we thought), we were frozen solid, and our dinner sitting was long past.   As such, we stepped inside and made a quick stop in the Borough Market to see if we could grab a bite to eat, but it was jam-packed with people.   There were no available seats, so after wrangling two tiny plates each with 3 Jacobs crackers and 3 small wedges of cheese, we stood at a counter, jammed against the wall by the milling crowd.  Needless to say, it was neither a comfortable nor an ideal situation.

 

We had taken only a few bites when we were informed by the manager of Saffron that 'we were not wanted here’.  Almost immediately, he quickly then clarified, stating, “sorry sorry, you cannot eat here.' After which we were further told, ‘go away, sorry, sorry, sorry.’  In hindsight, I think we were simply 'blocking the view' from Saffron, a specialty restaurant located inside the Borough Market.  However, the manager never explained it in such a manner.  At the moment, we were slightly shocked to have our plates confiscated by him while being told to leave without eating, so without ceremony, we complied. 
 
Ultimately, this meant that after a long day, we had to make do without an evening meal.  Thankfully, tonight, the lights were providing a different type of nourishment. 
 

Pub Crawl and Astronomy Enrichment

 
This unfortunate episode ultimately led us up to the Purple Turtle to have a pint and a couple of packs of crisps while we listened to some live music as we warmed up.  Today had already been a long and eventful day, but it wasn't over yet. 

 
At 10:30 PM, I headed outside to Deck 10 forward, where Martin Lunn was giving an astronomy talk and tour of the night sky from the front of the ship.  The narrow wooden deck was already full of people, and Martin was enthusiastically pointing out the constellation Cassiopeia above the ship, when once again the northern lights appeared as if by magic.  The response was enthusiastic and immediate, as they were greeted by cheers, oohs and aahs, and a forest of Smartphones eagerly raised up to capture the spectacle. 
 

Living Skies

 

“The aurora seemed to quiver like a living thing.”

Vilhelm Bjerknes

 
Tromsø’s reputation as a Northern Lights destination is rooted not only in its latitude, but in the long nights this region enjoys late in the year.  These extended periods of darkness allow the aurora to be visible for longer.  On clear nights, the lights can strengthen, fade, and return again across hours, shifting shape and intensity as the sky slowly turns overhead.

Tonight, as the ship pressed north through dark, open water, the sky wove alive above. Soft green light rippled above us, brightening, fading, and returning again in slow waves that felt less like an amazing spectacle. 

 
As they did several nights ago, the running lights along the top decks of the ship were turned off, improving our view of the aurora even more!  At one point, the northern lights were so strong that the scene became truely awe-inspiring.
 

Midnight Northern Lights

 
After an already long day, Sean wasn't up for another cold session up on deck.  As such, he stayed inside the Observatory chatting with those we had come to know on board, while I spent another two hours on deck, unable to resist watching a truly magical spectacle unfold. 

 
We had long ago left the lights of Tromsø behind, and were slipping quietly down narrow channels bordered by snow-capped mountains.  At times, the rocky cliffs were only a few meters off the sides of the ship, making me realize it would be just as wonderous to sail through this region in summer, when the midnight sun lit up the landscape. 

As it was, the lights shimmered above Ambience for the third time today (that we had seen) which made for a truly magical experience.  The moon was full, which perhaps didn't create optimal viewing conditions, but the long silvery moon trail it created across the water was stunning.  As one day ticked over into the next and we sailed out into open water, both the green of the northern lights and the silver of the moon were reflected in the open ocean.  

Just before I finally went downstairs to bed, the lights were making long curtains in the sky, and the edges were tinged with red.  A second shooting star burned across the sky.  It was large, orange, and slow-moving, looking more like an ember from a wood fire than a shooting star.  What a wonderful way to end a day!
 

Morning Bedtime

 
One would think that if we were exhausted at 8 PM after a full day in Tromsø, then we would be properly done in by 2:30-3 AM, but when we finally turned in, the clock seemed irrelevant, and we felt renewed.   The displays of northern lights, the colours, and the movement of the bands of colour were all beyond anything that we could have hoped for when we boarded Ambience!

 

Around Ambience, the Arctic night continued on without us, lit up and constantly changing, as if the lights had never needed an audience at all. Though I did periodically peek out our porthole window to see them. 

 

As Ambience continued northward, the imaginary line demarking the Arctic Circle continued to slip behind us.  Whether the sky would offer more opportunities to view the aurora in the days ahead remained uncertain. But we had all already been given a spectacular show – enough, that if we did not see them again, we would both be more than satisfied!
 
Tomorrow we will arrive in Alta, Norway - the northernmost stop on this voyage.  I can't imagine what we will do if it holds as much beauty and wonder as today did - we might just collapse from exhaustion.  The captain's daily announcement suggested we should arrive at 9:00 AM, having covered a distance of 184 nautical miles. 
 
See you on deck!
 
Nautical Term for the Day: Even Keel - A ship trimmed correctly sits level on its keel, stable and dependable. Today, a person on an “even keel” is calm, steady, and balanced.